Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP) serves two main target audiences: California SNAP shoppers and California fruit and vegetable farmers. California SNAP shoppers are encouraged to spend their SNAP (CalFresh) benefits at participating Certified Farmers' Markets and small retailers, where they can receive a matching incentive to purchase additional California grown fruits and vegetables. There were over 962,000 SNAP transactions made at 309 active sites during this reporting period. SNAP shoppers are reached through different methods, including in store/market signage and promotions, outreach through partner community organizations, social media, and local social service offices and staff. Outreach materials are offered in up to five languages and include visual infographics added to ensure as many shoppers as possible can be reached. CNIP's other target audience is California fruit and vegetable farmers. CNIP incentives can only be used for California grown fresh produce, helping increase demand for locally grown produce. Incentives are only distributed at Certified Farmers Markets, which sell only California grown products, and at small retailers, encouraging those stores to source and label all California grown produce. Changes/Problems: The biggest change was that CDFA and the Alameda Deputy Sherriff's Activities League (ADSAL) jointly agreed to terminate their contract/sub-award. ADSAL was unable to get FNS approvalfor online SNAP sales of their produce boxes (they were told they were too small), which impacted their ability to effectively execute the grant's objectives within the designated timeline. Additionally, the county's Board of Supervisors then decided to refocus their funding and ended their focus on food-related work. No funds were distributed, and their budget was redistributed to other CNIP grantees (primarily the Ecology Center and Los Angeles Food Policy Council) to meet their growing needs for more incentive dollars. Aspire had faced major challenges establishing their POS system in 2023 but was able to get the program up and running at 6 sites in this reporting period. Chico Co-op noted that retaining existing shoppers and attracting new ones during their store remodel and changes in staff was a challenge. However, the Co-op has increased resources toward graphic designing and contracted with an external marketing professional to help design effective digital promotions and outreach. EC experienced challenges at some participating farm direct sites and where they had to close the Market Match program at 20 sites for this reporting period. There were an additional 31 sites that closed between seasons and thus did not get reported in the previous reporting period. Of these, 36 closures occurred in 16 high-need counties, including Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Tehama, Tulare, Fresno, Yolo, Lake, Los Angeles, San Diego, Shasta, and Sacramento. Farm direct vendors anecdotally reported a decrease in overall sales post-pandemic as the national supply chain has recovered and open-air markets competed more fully with grocery stores again. Some site operators reported a decrease in stall fee revenue that supported their market, which likely underpinned the site closures. Some observed that as many shoppers' return to brick-and-mortar grocery stores and indoor food access spaces after the pandemic, farm direct sites added during a time of high need during the pandemic have not been able to sustain themselves. In response to this, EC added 13 Market Match sites in this reporting period. In 2024, they also lifted some barriers to entry for existing partners who proposed adding new sites. We did this by adding sites on a rolling basis instead of once a year. Results of these efforts will be reflected in the final report. LAFCP and other organization noted navigating changes in leadership and cessation of government funding that limited food supply and resources to communities in need. They noted the continued need to overcome stigmas around food assistance and for further customer education & responsive produce selection. Mandela Partner also notes some challenges with staff turnover which required their team to adapt. They relaunched their Community Produce Stands which took significant staff time and resources. They had especially limited bandwidth to troubleshoot technology challenges, but ultimately, they were able to develop reliable solutions.? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? CDFA continues to work closely with all sub-grantees as they implement their programs. Grantees also develop and implement their own trainings regarding their specific projects. Aspire held several trainings and gatherings to promote the program within the community and ensure effective implementation inside participating grocery stores. Partnering with local organizations, training covered: cashier trainings, survey collection, student summer internships, health coach trainings, and collaborative community meetings. EC held Quartey calls with participants to review program updates, provide resources and reports, engage in discussions, and have surveys completed. They also held their annual Face to Face meeting in August 2024 with 83 participants from 58 organizations to review the Market Match program and impact reports. The meeting provided networking and breakout sessions to address equity programs, social media usage and social de-escalation techniques. Five EC staff members attended the California Small Farms Conference, where EC staff delivered two presentations focused on increasing SNAP/CalFresh acceptance at markets and highlighting the customers served by CNIP. Additionally, three staff members joined CNIP staff and participated in the Nutrition Incentive Hub GusNIP Farm Direct Recordkeeping webinar, addressing SNAP policy issues. Furthermore, EC staff taught a class on nutrition incentives at the 2024 California Alliance of Farmers' Markets. Through these combined efforts, EC has effectively built the body of knowledge around nutrition incentives, empowering external stakeholders to replicate successful models and contribute to the overall impact of the Market Match program. LAFCP provided training to store partners, instructing them on how the program works, what techniques could support incentive data tracking, and strategies for marketing the program to CalFresh shoppers. These trainings were conducted informally to best support the store owners' busy schedules and to have increased familiarity between the store staff and LAFPC staff. Store visits were conducted in October 2023 and a formal meeting in May for all partners to connect with one another, share best practices, give feedback, and ask questions. The Food Trust conduced 12 training sessions in English and Spanish over the course of this grant period. The primary trainings were conducted with store produce managers to ensure they consistently label California-grown produce and enter these items properly into the store POS system.? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Sub-grantees utilized many ways to reach communities of interest, including local news, direct mailers, social media, partnerships with local non-profits, local government organizations, Community Outreach Associates and promotoras. Materials are translated into multiple languages and often with many visuals, both to emphasize aspects of the program but also to reach low-literacy and speakers of other languages. Additionally, CDFA worked with evaluators at the Nutrition Policy Institute to collect survey data and to report to the Nutrition Incentive Hub. Results from both evaluations are shared with the public via CDFA's outreach channels (website, blogs, reports, reporting to the Legislature, newsletters, social media, etc.). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? CDFA will continue to support sub-grantees as they implement their scopes of work. This includes regular check-ins, formal progress reports, invoicing review, as well as in-person site visits. EC will continue to support and provide technical assistance to the farm direct sites through one-on-one communications (email, phone, in person), as well as webinars, meetings, and site-visits. For the next reporting period, sites have suggested smaller regional gatherings as well, which are being planned. To increase customer education and improve produce selection the LAFCP will offer a combination of continuing to include both widely familiar and enjoyed crops (i.e. continuing with stone fruits, pomegranates and other popular items), culturally relevant crops (i.e. tomatoes, cilantros, onions) and development of info cards that customers can take to learn how to cook unfamiliar items. Chico-Coop plans in to offering marketing and outreach materials in two additional languages. The Food Trust has received a grant that will allow them to begin hosting monthly nutrition lessons at each of the three Lucky 7 Supermarkets beginning in November 2024.?
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Outcome 1.1: Distributed $10,809,187.09 of California grown fresh fruit and vegetable incentives at the point of purchase at 309 sites, resulting in an additional approximate $20.8 million in SNAP spending. This was a 157% increase from the previous reporting period. Outcome 1.2: Created approximately $53.2 million in economic activity, particularly to rural economies, as measured by impacts of additional SNAP spending (measured with the SNAP economic multiplier ($1.50), and nutrition incentive spending (measured by the Economic Contributions of Healthy Food Incentives Study CA nutrition incentive multiplier of $3.00). Outcome 1.3: Expanded the geographic reach by adding 21 new sites. New farm direct sites focused on locations facing pronounced food access disparities, high rates of diet-related diseases, and a lack of existing CNIP presence. Outcome 1.4: CDFA continued and built upon its strong data collection practices, along with its partners, and submitted data from all sites to the Nutrition Incentive Hub and CDFA's independent evaluator, the Nutrition Policy Institute at the University of California. Outcome 2.1: CDFA has been committed to enhancing program efficiency and accuracy in recordkeeping. EC successfully facilitated the expansion of EBT terminal capacity at the high-volume site of Old Oakland in July 2024. They convened multiple gathering of 9 partner organizations operating at high-volume sites to discuss unique operational challenges during a transition away from using EBT card number to track transactions and ways to acquire additional EBT terminals. Outcome 2.2: EC has made progress in the development of the Market Match data portal. This includes streamlined data entry processes, enhanced user experience, and ensured data integrity across the platform. They also enhanced the public-facing mapping tool, FMFinder.org, to better identify sites with outdated metadata, particularly regarding seasonal information. Outcome 2.3: CDFA and EC monitored the California EBT Fruit and Vegetable Pilot project, a separate program run by the Department of Social Services to test the integration of supplemental benefits on the directly onto the EBT Card. Additionally, EC had multiple meetings with service producers, namely Market Kink and TotilPay Go, to map out possibilities for a decentralized e-scrip mobile app-based model. Outcome 3.1: CNIP grantee, EC, actively collaborated with 70 organizations to facilitatethe dissemination of vital messaging. This collaborative endeavor aims to extend the reach of theprogram and enhance our engagement with CalFresh clients. These efforts are guided by acomprehensive strategy to employ various platforms, including lobby posters, digital brochures,flyers, digital flier/postcards, and banners, as well as informational videos and PowerPoints. Outcome 3.2: CDFA and EC engaged in the following digital outreach initiatives: Video: Video outreach efforts yielded 3,670 organic views on YouTube of the Market Match animated explainers available in multiple languages. Social media/Websites: For other digital content, the Market Match Facebook page reach was 4,165 during this reporting period. Page visits: 1600. Facebook Page new likes: 47. Instagram metrics measured from June- September 2024 showed a reach of 5861 users with 314 page visits and 134 engagements. There were 103,034 Farmers' Market Finder views and 315,577 impressions between September 15, 2023, and September 14, 2024. These numbers show a 93.59% growth rate from the last reporting period. Outcome 3.3: EC expanded our Market Match assets to include 10 essential resources in both Mixtec and Farsi; partnered with Alameda County to distribute 1,310 brochures in Cantonese; and supported partners by issuing multi-lingual printed placemats in 7 languages. Outcome 3.4: Data has been managed and updated on the Farmers' Market Finder (FMFinder.org) that allows members of the public to identify farmers' markets that accept CalFresh and offer Market Match. Outcome 3.5: Aspire Health conducted in person surveys and outreach in underserved communities using promotoras to monitor health status of CalFresh families using incentives. From the 845 surveys collected, they found at least 60% of CalFresh families reported a positive improvement in their overall health status and 70% reported a reduction or maintenance in their BMI, as self-reported by participants. Outcome 3.6: Mandela Partners provided cooking education resources to SNAP shoppers at four affordable housing complexes, as well as several one-time workshops in our community. Among workshop participants surveyed, 88% report that this program supported them in preparing more nutritious meals, and 100% reported consuming more fruits and vegetables because of this program. Outcome 4.1: CDFA and EC has provided technical assistance to grantees and ICs. To support the FNS EBT card number transition, they hosted two webinars specifically dedicated to addressing key challenges and organized one High Volume Call and one quarterly call. To ensure partners remain informed about regulations, instructional email bulletins and slide presentations were distributed. EC staff conducted invoicing and recordkeeping reviews and training with various partners, offering tailored sessions with organizations. These equipped partners with the necessary tools and knowledge to effectively manage their operations and ensure compliance with program requirements. Outcome 4.2: EC successfully advanced knowledge sharing, providing technical assistance, and promoting collaboration among Market Match ICs. They hosted their Annual Market Match Face-to-Face Meeting in August 2024, a virtual four-hour conference attended by 83 participants. The meeting served as a pivotal platform for collaboration, sharing best practices, and delivering valuable training. EC organized and hosted four quarterly Community of Practice Webinars between November 2023 and June 2024. These sessions collectively attracted 171 attendees within the Market Match community. In they conducted a specialized training and capacity building session for Market Match operators of high-volume sites in July 2024, which engaged 12 attendees from 9 organizations. This call further emphasized the dedication to providing targeted support and addressing the specific needs of ICs. Outcome 4.3: Through various channels and activities, CDFA continues to broaden the understanding of successful models in the nutrition incentive landscape. EC has made significant progress in enhancing the dissemination and replication of successful nutrition incentive models among external stakeholders. Their efforts focused on sharing program success metrics and progress reports, lessons learned, best practices, and program outcomes through various channels, including earned media, newsletters, and conference participation. EC achieved substantial earned media exposure, with a total of 29 news stories published across 10 regional outlets and 17 statewide and national platforms.Their Farmers' Market Access and Equity Quarterly Newsletter also played a crucial role in disseminating information, with four newsletters published during the reporting period. They added 693 new subscribers. Key content included updates on the Market Match 2023 statewide impact, education on CNIP and California state budget, and important notifications regarding requests for applications. The engagement metrics from our newsletters reflect growing interest, with 377 opens and 877 sends in Q4 2023 to 524 opens and 1,486 sends in Q3 2024.
Publications
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Progress 09/15/22 to 09/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The California Nutrition Incentive Program (CNIP) serves two main target audiences: California SNAP shoppers and California fruit and vegetable farmers. California SNAP shoppers are encouraged to spend their SNAP (CalFresh) benefits at participating Certified Farmers' Markets and small retailers, where they can receive a matching incentive to purchase additional California grown fruits and vegetables. There were a total of 303 active sites during this reporting period. There were over 433,000 SNAP transactions made during this reporting period. SNAP shoppers are reached through different outreach methods, including in store/market signage and promotions, outreach through partner community organizations, social media, and local social service offices. Outreach materials are offered in multiple languages and with many visuals added to ensure we can reach as many shoppers as possible. CNIP's other target audience is California fruit and vegetable farmers. CNIP incentives can only be used for California grown fresh produce, helping increase demand for the California grown produce. Incentives are distributed at Certified Farmers Markets, which sell only California grown products, and at small retailers, encouraging those stores to source and label more California grown produce. Changes/Problems:Overall, a few of our new sub-grantees and new retail sites had slower starts to the project than anticipated, often related to issues with upgrading POS systems. CDFA has worked with grantees to provide resources and assistance, and the program has now launched in all but one setting. (Details on each sub-grantee below) Additionally, there was a reduction in SNAP spending at farmers markets. At the beginning of the year this was likely due to California's extremely wet winter, which not only decreased foot traffic at markets but also caused some storm damage for both markets and vendors. Then, when the emergency pandemic SNAP-allotment ended, we saw reduced spend. We have worked with the farmers market sites to switch back to more active outreach (which we had stopped in our last grant when we were running out of incentive dollars and couldn't support increased demand), which has helped the numbers pick back up. DSAL has had trouble starting their project and might potentially drop out of the program. CDFA staff will continue to meet with them and, if a determination is made to end their sub-grant, work with NIFA. We would propose that their budgeted incentive funds be redistributed to a sub-grantee seeing high demand (for example, LAFPC currently is seeing 30% more demand than expected, which will leave them with an incentive budget shortfall) Ecology Center experienced noticeable reduction in the average Market Match spend among Implementation Contractions (ICs) across the state during the period of the post-pandemic reduction in SNAP (CalFresh) benefits. Some ICs also found it challenging to switch from a focus of building capacity to meet the needs of the added COVID EBT shoppers to promoting participation in the program again. These challenges show the importance of closely monitoring and responding to the changing needs and circumstances of program participants, especially in times of evolving benefit structures and economic conditions. Despite the obstacles posed by the weather, Market Match ICs exhibited remarkable dedication, ensuring that the impact on shopper participation remained minimal. Aspire Health Plan's challenge was getting the program launched in targeted stores. Each store has a different store manager and each store has a different timeline for their system upgrades. Standardizing the program approach has proven challenging when each store has their own Point of Sale (POS) system and requires different POS coding. To mitigate these challenges, Aspire remains connected to the store contacts as often as possible and has weekly meetings within its team to ensure they can move forward and address current challenges. Chico Natural Foods Co-op had challenges in getting the word out about the incentive program and getting folks into the store to take advantage of the program. An overall challenge, as an independent grocer, is the disadvantaged competition for market share and consumer dollars against larger businesses. Despite the obstacles, Chico Co-op leveraged relationships with local organizations (including food security non-profits like the Center for Healthy Communities) to spread the good word about the incentive program. Program info is shared at local Farmers' Market, featured in media publications, and direct mailed to inform the community about the program. This work has brought new people into the Co-op, specifically to take advantage of the Produce Incentive Program. The Food Trust had challenges to onboard all of the stores on time, because of the limitations in their point of sale systems. This was addressed through constant communication with the point of sale system service providers and store owners in order to create workaround solutions that would allow the stores to process incentives. Incentive redemptions were lower than anticipated at the two previously participating stores, leading to a lower overall distribution and redemption rate for the period. To increase redemption and distribution rates, there have been increased community outreach efforts by the Community Outreach Associates contracted for this project, as well as additional marketing and signage being printed and placed in the stores. Mandela Partners focused efforts on onboarding two new stores during the first six months, leaning on existing training materials to streamline the process as much as possible. Additional challenges with technology as each store navigates their own technology supplies and challenges, and the capacity to support this range of issues is limited. Standardizing the technology across stores improved both the quality of tools and the efficiency of programming. Los Angeles Food Policy (LAFPC)'s early challenges was establishing an operational flow and volume that worked for all parties involved. The financial benefit relies greatly on reaching a particular volume benchmark, and one of the initial stores was not able to make it due to a lack of CalFresh customer engagement with the Farm Fresh LA bundle product. In response, LAFPC team conducted significant community outreach, meeting with daycares, schools, service centers, and community-based organizations in the area to inform them of the program as well as canvassing the neighborhood with flyers. LAFPC also saw challenges with EBT machine failures, difficulty that reimbursement-based programs present to small businesses, and reliance on volunteer labor. Machine failure was ultimately due to a lack of communication between merchant services and the store owner, and staff ultimately negotiated with merchant services to get the store owner a new POS system. With the support of LAFPC's operations and finance team, store owners are frequently repaid for the incentives they move within one week of distribution. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?CDFA met with and onboarded all sub-grantees at the beginning of the project period and continues to work closely with them as they develop and implement their programs. Grantees also develop and implement their own trainings regarding their specific projects. The Ecology Center conducted 7 virtual meetings with Market Match partner organizations including the annual "Face to Face" Meeting, 3 required quarterly calls, 2 onboarding trainings for new partners (administrative intricacies, compliance requirements, and the best practices that drive success.), and two calls for high transaction volume Implementation Contractors to discuss challenges and solutions specific to operating at high participation volumes. Additionally, the Ecology Center supports implementing sites through regular telephone consultations, prompt and informative email exchanges, and in-person site visits. The Ecology Center also developed and shared new training videos and procedural documents with Implementation Contractors. These valuable materials offered step by step instructions on scrip requirements, transaction processing, record-keeping and more, serving as critical assets in the onboarding process for new administrative staff, market operators, and market vendors, thus fostering a thriving Community of Practice. Ecology Center staff also attended and presented training materials at the 2023 California Small Farms Conference. The Food Trust conducted a total of 8 training sessions with stores owners and staff to implement the program. Store owners at the newly added sites were trained on how to process the incentive program using the software added to their point-of-sale system. Store owners were also trained to promote the program, the rules and regulations surround incentives, eligible items, produce display techniques, and how to use marketing materials to highlight eligible products in the store. Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC) staff informally conducted training to each of the store partners, instructing them on how the program works, what techniques could support incentive data tracking, and strategies for marketing the program to CalFresh shoppers. A formal program was held through September 2023 for all program partners to connect with one another, share best practices, give feedback, and ask questions. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Sub-grantees utilized many different ways to reach communities of interest, including: local news, direct mailers, social media, partnerships with local non-profits, local government organizations, and Community Outreach Associates and (in the next period) promotoras. Materials are translated into multiple languages and often with many visuals, both to emphasize aspects of the program but also to reach low-literacy and speakers of other languages. Additionally, CDFA worked with evaluators at the Nutrition Policy Institute to collect survey data and to report to the Nutrition Incentive Hub. Results from both evaluations will be shared with the public via CDFA's outreach channels (blogs, reports, reporting to the Legislature, newsletters, social media, etc.). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?CDFA will continue to support sub-grantees as they implement their scopes of work. This includes regular check-ins, formal progress reports, invoicing review, as well as in-person site visits. Aspire Health has just launched its program (after this reporting period ended) and we will continue to provide them with additional support for the first few months of implementation. The Ecology Center will continue to support and provide technical assistance to the farm direct sites through one-on-one communications (email, phone, in person), as well as webinars, meetings, and site-visits. For the next reporting period, sites have suggested smaller regional gatherings as well, which are being planned.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Outcome 1.1: Distributed $4,139,474.70 of California grown fresh fruit and vegetable incentives at the point of purchase at 303 sites, resulting in an additional approximate $6.2 million in SNAP spending. Outcome 1.2: Create approximately $21.7 million in economic activity, particularly to rural economies, as measured by impacts of additional SNAP spending (measured with the SNAP economic multiplier ($1.50), and nutrition incentive spending (measured by the Economic Contributions of Healthy Food Incentives Study CA nutrition incentive multiplier of $3.00). Outcome 1.3: Expanded the geographic reach by adding 24 new sites (20 farm direct, 4 retail). New farm direct sites were chosen through a rigorous prioritization process, focusing on cities and counties facing pronounced food access disparities, high rates of diet-related diseases, and a lack of existing CNIP presence (e.g. Yuba County). Outcome 1.4: CDFA continued and built upon its strong data collection practices. The Ecology Center, the largest CNIP grantee, uses the Market Match data portal to collect monthly data for its 284 sites. These reports have proven invaluable in providing an in-depth and ongoing assessment of the program's performance and its impact across various locations. This data has been shared with the Hub and will be made accessible to other key stakeholders beyond the CNIP and GusNIP programs, fostering a culture of knowledge exchange within the nutrition incentive community. Outcome 2.1: CDFA and Ecology Center staff orchestrated a gathering of nine partners who operate high-volume markets. These collaborative meetings served as a platform for partners to candidly discuss their operational challenges, share innovative solutions, and collectively identify best practices tailored to their unique circumstances. Several key best practices that came up include: Transitioning to Higher Denomination Scrip: Some partners have successfully transitioned to a higher denomination scrip, which has streamlined transactions and reduced processing time. Adopting Metal Scrip: The adoption of metal scrip has demonstrated operational efficiency, offering durability and ease of counting and handling. Utilizing ACH Payments for Vendors: Partners have explored the use of ACH payments for vendors, simplifying financial transactions, reducing cash handling, and enhancing vendor satisfaction. Providing Vendor Pouches: The provision of vendor pouches to collect scrip from vendors at the market has improved organization, safety, and efficiency in the redemption process. Implementing Additional EBT Terminals: Several partners have introduced a second EBT terminal at their sites to expedite EBT transactions, reduce wait times, and enhance the overall customer experience. Outcome 2.2: These activities were not undertaken during this reporting period. Efforts to further develop and refine Ecology Center's Market Match portal will be undertaken in Q1 2024. Outcome 2.3: Smaller volume partners have focused on transitioning from tokens to paper for cost effectiveness while some higher volume partners have focused on transitioning from paper, plastic, and wood to metal token scrip to bolster efficiency to allow for use with a token counter. Outcome 3.1: CNIP grantee, Ecology Center, actively collaborated with 12 organizations to facilitate the dissemination of program messaging. This collaborative endeavor aims to extend the reach of our program and enhance our engagement with CalFresh clients. These efforts are guided by a comprehensive strategy to employ various platforms, including lobby posters, digital brochures, flyers, digital flier/postcards, and banners, as well as informational videos and PowerPoints. CDFA continued to partner with the State Nutrition Action Committee (SNAC) to distribute information about CNIP to other statewide organizations working on nutrition. Outcome 3.2: CDFA and the Ecology Center have made work plans and begun digital outreach initiatives, including: Video: Ecology Center created videos in 2021 for Market Match using animated explainers in Cantonese, English, Spanish, and Vietnamese have been viewed 6,621 on YouTube since they were made public in January 2021. Social Media/Websites: For other digital content, the Market Match Facebook page reach (the number of people who saw any content from our Page or about our Page, including posts, stories, social information from people who interact with our Page and more) was 3,201 during this reporting period. Page visits: 637. Facebook Page new likes: 22 MarketMatch.org had 44,328 views, and there were 53,223 Farmers' Market Finder views between Jan 1, 2023 and Sept 14, 2023. Outcome 3.3: During this reporting period, two essential resources were created: a bilingual flier in Chinese and English, as well as a comprehensive tri-fold brochure specifically tailored for Alameda County in Chinese and English. These materials are instrumental in conveying program information effectively to a broader audience as a Cantonese speaking population engaged more heavily with the Market Match program in Alameda County during this reporting period. Digital media toolkits were updated to reflect key language adjustments, replacing "double your money" with "get more money". This revision was informed by feedback received from market operators who expressed concern that the former terminology could be confusing for their customers. The revised language now accurately conveys the daily maximum match per market day, enhancing clarity and understanding that shoppers can go to multiple markets in a week to receive the incentives. Outcome 3.4: Staff conducted thorough revisions and edits for sites that displayed outdated information, guaranteeing that all details, from market location and operating hours to market manager contacts, were made current. This process recognized the dynamic nature of farmers' markets, and proactively added new market listings to ensure the reliability and comprehensiveness of this valuable resource. CDFA and the Ecology Center staff collaborated with a web developer contractor to develop functionality to include filters for status of accepting CalFresh and offering Market Match, and market status (open or closed). Outcome 3.5: Work will begin next period. Aspire Health's Program has not yet launched in targeted stores due to contracting delays followed by hardware and software upgrades in pending stores. Outcome 3.6: CNIP's grantee, Mandela Partners, provided holistic wellness and cooking education resources to SNAP shoppers at 3 affordable housing complexes by February 28, 2025. 80% of SNAP shoppers report that wellness and cooking education programming supported them in preparing more nutritious meals with fruits and vegetables. 60% of SNAP shoppers report consuming more fruits and vegetables as a result of the programming. Outcome 4.1 CDFA and Ecology Center staff consistently provided ongoing technical assistance in direct response to the unique needs and inquiries. This support encompasses a thorough examination of monthly invoices and monthly data reports and their accompanying source documents, ensuring transparency and adherence to compliance standards throughout our financial management processes. Outcome 4.2: CNIP grantee, Ecology Center, organized and hosted three Market Match Community of Practice webinar meetings. For those unable to participate in real-time, we ensured that notes and recordings were readily available, allowing organizations to review and benefit from the discussions even after the meetings. Outcome 4.3: Contribution to the nutrition incentive program body of knowledge includes sharing lessons learned, promoting best practices and disseminating program outcomes during webinars and meetings with external stakeholders. Through various channels and activities, CDFA continues to broaden the understanding of successful models in the nutrition incentive landscape.
Publications
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